Medicine: Cries for Help

Nowhere in the world is suicide, or the threat of suicide, taken more
seriously than in Los Angeles. Though several U.S. cities have
first-aid stations for those seeking help to save themselves from
self-destruction, only Los Angeles has a full-fledged Suicide
Prevention Center.

Financed by the National Institutes of Health to the tune of $100,000 a
year, the S.P.C. keeps a staff of eight constantly on the alert. Its
telephone (CApitol 5-2388) jangles on an average of 2,500 times a year,
often with calls from people reporting that a relative or
friendusually meaning the caller himselfis contemplating suicide. At
least nine times...